OUR pal Alister is coming to stay tonight and the house is a bit of a mess…the Christmas tree, decorations and lights are all strewn around waiting to go up.

First job is putting up the outside lights along the front of the house.

Once that’s done I finish of a leather keyring for the last of my outstanding orders. I should have had it ll don and delivered a day or two ago but one of the keyrings that was old stock didn’t pass muster when I was boxing them up so wanted to make another.

After getting the smoker fired up and the chicken thighs on I help Margaret with some more of the Christmas stuff and marinade tonight’s flank for Vietnamese beef.

Alister arrives soon after 5pm and we chat over coffee and Christmas cake while Margaret makes a dessert for later. Then we crack open the beers and eventually I venture outside and get some charcoal lit for the grill.

We haven.t seen each other for a good five or six years, so there’s a lot of catching up to do….